Welcome to my little piece of the web.
The Dysfunctional Conspiracy
After my mother died in a fire, I never expected to wind up facing federal charges of arson and wire fraud. A careless error on the part of the authorities was all it took to ignite a cascading series of cover-ups and misdirection that landed my father and I in prison, fighting to prove our innocence.
From the night I first received a bizarre midnight call from a police dispatcher miles away, to the day of our conviction, I suspected my father and I were the victims of a chain of events too bizarre to be imagined and too deliberate to be simple ineptitude. The whole situation reeked of contrivance, and would have been comical if not for my mother’s death.
The judge sealed the conspiracy when he gave us both life-without-parole sentences despite no evidence tying us to the fire. We were never charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, or even assault.
To regain our freedom, I hired the best, most unwavering and tireless attorney I could find―me.
After poring over mountains of evidence, transcripts, and subpoenas from my jail cell, I unraveled a web of dysfunctional half-truths and outright lies the US Attorney used to convict us. My father and I are the only two men in the history of the United States to be sentenced to life-without-parole in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, and later exonerated.
This book is the story of my ten-year battle.
I’m honored to have had the chance to work with Christopher Veltmann on this book. His story is one that had my jaw on the ground for most of the writing process. What happened to him is so out there, had this been a work of fiction I would’ve had trouble suspending disbelief. Alas, the events described in this book really happened.
Convergence (Winter Solstice #1)
July 31, 2017
Solstice Winters has spent most of her life halfway between normal society and the world of her magical parents. However, when getting caught between two worlds becomes more than metaphorical, being able to summon light or open locks might not be enough.
Neither her love life nor her professional life are going anywhere in a hurry. Her boyfriend is successful and handsome, but she constantly has to compete with his job for affection. At thirty-two, she works as a photojournalist for The Spirtualist, a small paper dedicated to magic and the supernatural―that most people regard as a tabloid. Desperate for that ‘one break,’ she’ll do almost anything to get that big story and get into a ‘real’ media outlet.
Years of always not quite fitting in begin to make sense after an error at a particle physics laboratory alters the dimensional alignment of the world, strengthening magic and revealing an unexpected truth to Solstice.
She’s not even human.
In the wake of an event her boss at the paper is calling The Convergence, magical beings are appearing all over the Earth. Solstice doesn’t hesitate, racing to be the first to capture indisputable evidence of mythical beasts. Alas, being a magical creature herself, she soon winds up in the cross-hairs of not only a three-letter government agency, but an ancient sect of mages with dark intentions.
The Eldritch Heart
Princess Oona Talomir enjoys the little things that come with her station: a handmaiden, her lavish bedchamber, and scores of fancy dresses―the duty to win a decades’ long war, not so much.
Oh, did I mention assassins?
Seers foretold the conflict would end by her hand. From the moment she drew her first breath, the neighboring kingdom has been trying to kill her so she could not grow powerful enough to destroy them. The king, fearing for his daughter’s life, has kept her confined to the castle grounds for most of her sixteen years. With the tide of war turning against them, the burden of her crown becomes too much to bear, yet one thing lifts her spirits amid the gloom.
Her servant girl, Kitlyn.
Alas, in a kingdom obsessed with the god of purity, she is terrified to confess her forbidden love. When her father makes a demand she cannot abide―marry a prince to forge a military alliance―Oona panics. He is handsome and honorable, but he’s not Kitlyn. Unable to admit why she cannot obey, Oona does the only thing she can think of, and runs away.
Alone and unprepared in the wilderness, she prays the gods will let Kitlyn find her—before the assassins do.
Contact Me
email – mcox2112@gmail.com
Twitter – @mscox_fiction
Nascent Shadow
(August 31 2017)
Brooklyn Amari knew not to get in car with a stranger; when a man tried to lure her―she killed him.
As if taking a man’s life at the tender age of ten wasn’t bad enough, her childhood home burned to the ground two years later. She doesn’t remember how she survived, but she’s felt a pull toward the conflagration ever since. After a troubled patch in her teens, she’s become a respectable firefighter, rushing again and again into the inferno that almost killed her. A routine sweep-and-clear during a hotel blaze takes a deadly turn, but also explains how she escaped death eleven years ago: she’s probably a demon.
Brooklyn had always enjoyed having psychic abilities, but wings?
She’s still trying to come to terms with what she might be when she gets a vision of an arsonist planting a magic bomb. The Fire Marshal’s office is ill-equipped to handle magic, and since she’s the most paranormal thing they’ve got, they offer her a temporary promotion.
Unfortunately, she soon finds herself neck deep in an investigation that goes straight over her head.
And oh yeah―she’s supposed to destroy the world.
[8/13/17] – The Shadow Collector – (Temporal Armistice #2) first draft finished.
[8/8/17] – Containment (Winter Solstice #2) first draft finished.
[8/1/2017] – The Eldritch Heart is now available!
[7/31/2017] – Convergence releases!
[7/27/2017] – The Dysfunctional Conspiracy is released!
[7/27/2017] – Nascent Shadow is done with proofreading and going into final production.
[7/18/2017] – The Cursed Codex (A middle-grade LitRPG novel) is finished drafting, off to beta readers!
[7/11/2017] – Pardon the calm on the website. I’ve been insanely busy. Four novels completed in a hair over one month. Convergence – Winter Solstice #1 (with JR Rain), Silver Light – Alexis Silver #1 (with JR Rain), Nascent Shadow – Temporal Armistice #1, and The Cursed Codex. Convergence is up for pre-order on Amazon – releasing July 31!
[6/5/17] – Signed a publishing contract for Citadel: The Concordant Sequence with Curiosity Quills Press!
[6/2/17] – The Divergent Fates Anthology is live on Amazon!
[5/15/17] – Division Zero Guardian goes live on Amazon!
[5/6/17] – First draft of The Concordant Sequence is finished at 120k words.
[5/4 & 5/5] – Took days off work to write since this story wants out in a major way. Writing binge commence!
[5/3/17] – Back to writing TCS.
[5/1/17] – Got an emergency “need this fast” editing job from CQ. Argh. Setting TCS aside.
[4/30/17] – Writing begins on TCS.
[4/29/17] – Outline finished for Citadel: The Concordant Sequence.
[4/28/17] – Got struck by a plot idea like lightning. Post-apoc story.
[4/20/17] – The Redeemed – Book 2 of the Roadhouse Chronicles is done with editing and on its way to the proofreader.
[4/14/17] – I am now 44.
[4/13/17] – The Eldritch Heart is finished with editing! Off to proofreading.
[3/29/2017] – The release date for Heir Ascendant had changed to 9/14/17 (from 9/26)
[3/24/2017] – The Eldritch Heart is through first-round edits!
[3/13/2017] – Signed a publishing contract with CQ for Ascendant Revolution book 2 of the Faded Skies series.
[3/1/2017] – The first draft of Emma and the Elixir of Madness is finished!
[2/25/2017] – Outlines for the next two books in the Tales of Widowswood series are done. Started drafting Emma book 4.
[2/24/2017] – Finished first pass edit of The Harmony Paradox. Back to the editor it goes.
[2/22/2017] – Ascendant Revolution is done with self edit two. Likely headed to CQ tonight for consideration.
[2/20/2017] – Curiosity Quills has signed Emma and the Silverbell Faeries! Book 3 of the Tales of Widowswood series!
[2/2/17] – The proofread of Division Zero: Guardian is back from CQ. Time to give it another pass.
[1/30/17] – First draft of Ascendant Revolution – book 2 of the Faded Skies series is done.
[1/4/2017] – Division Zero Guardian edits are done, sent the manuscript back to Curiosity Quills.
[1/2/2107] – Division Zero #4 is back from second round edits.
[12/29/2016] – Got a cover for Emma and the Silk Thieves, a new cover for Emma and the Banderwigh, Wayfarer: AV494 is signed for publication with Curiosity Quills. I’m also mostly done with an outline for the second book in the Faded Skies series.
[12/11/2016] – Proofread pass of Araphel (Daughter of Mars #2) is back… going over it.
[12/9/2016] – Edit 1 of Ghost Black (Daughter of Mars #3) is done… back to the editor.
[12/6/2016] – Edit 1 of Division Zero 4 is done, back to the editor.
[12/5/2016] – One More Run (Roadhouse Chronicles #1) releases!
[11/30/2016] – Sent my newest manuscript, Wayfarer, to Curiosity Quills for consideration.
[11/14/2016] – The Far Side of Promise anthology releases!
[11/5/2016] – Signed publishing contracts with Curiosity Quills Press for The Harmony Paradox and Dead Man’s Number.
[10/17/2016] – Angel Descended (Book #6 of The Awakened series) is back from the editor!
[10/9/2016] – Sent Emma and the Silverbell Faeries to CQ for consideration.
[9/19/2016] – The blog tour for Nine Candles of Deepest Black starts!
[9/17/2016] – Started drafting Emma and the Silverbell Faeries (Book 3 of the Tales of Widowswood series)
[9/16/2016] – Sent The Harmony Paradox to Curiosity Quills.
[9/15/2016] – Nine Candles of Deepest Black releases!
[9/10/2016] – Started on second self edit of The Harmony Paradox
[9/1/2016] – Pardon the long dearth in updates. I’d been engrossed in working on The Harmony Paradox, which is now finished (in draft) and off to beta readers. In other updates, Emma and the Silk Thieves is done with second round edits.
[8/8/2016] – The Hand of Raziel releases!
[8/7/2016] – Zero Rogue (Awakened #5) is back from the editor.
[8/5/2016] – Been working on THE HARMONY PARADOX – a sequel to Virtual Immortality. Also gearing up for the release of Hand of Raziel this Monday the 8th. Chapter One is now online to read.
[7/27/2016] – Emma and the Silk Thieves is back from first-round edits with Curiosity Quills. The editor seems to like it ^_^!
[7/22/2016] – I’ve completed an outline for a sequel to Virtual Immortality. This one looks like it’s going to be one of those books where it’ll take me months to come up with a title.
[7/18/2016] – Chiaroscuro release!
[7/17/2016] – Jotting down some notes for another two books in the Tales of Widowswood series. Also, Hand of Raziel is done with editing and on to proofs.
[7/10/2016] – Working on ideas for an as-yet-untitled book that would be a sequel to Virtual Immortality.
[7/7/2016] – Diving back in to Daughter of Ash (Awakened #4) for edit two.
[7/6/2016] – Proof done and sent back to CQ. The paperbacks of Chiaroscuro have arrived (somehow they beat the Grey Ronin paperbacks here, despite GR being ordered almost a week earlier.) /scratches head.
[7/5/2016] – Daughter of Ash is back from CQ after edit round 2.
[7/4/2016] – Proofreading Amy Spitzley’s Scrapbook of my Revolution for CQ in preparation for it’s re-release.
[7/2/2016] – Grey Ronin paperbacks are available on amazon! Also, started self-edit two on Dead Man’s Number (Roadhouse Chronicles 3) in prep to submit it to Curiosity Quills.
[6/26/2016] – Back from Utopia con (wow what a drive, lol). The cats are happy to see me. Taking a day to unwind with a newly arrived submission for the DF anthology.
[6/18/2016] – Dead Man’s Number goes to a beta reader. Whee!
[6/13/2016] – Release date switching – The Eldritch Heart is scheduled for release on July 10 2017, but Araphel (Daughter of Mars #2) moved to Aug 21 2017.
[6/11/2016] – Signed a publishing contract for my novel The Eldritch Heart with Curiosity Quills!
[6/2/2016] – Roadhouse Chronicles #3 (Dead Man’s Number) hits 97291 words. 25 chapters out of 38 done.
[5/24/2016] – Signed the contract with Curiosity Quills for The Dysfunctional Conspiracy, a non-fiction memoir I co-authored with Christopher Veltmann.
[5/23/2016] – Started drafting Dead Man’s Number.
[5/22/2016] – Finished an outline for the third book in the Roadhouse Chronicles series, “Dead Man’s Number.” Also, Grey Ronin sneaks onto Amazon a day early!
[5/17/2016] – Tinkering with the outline for book 3 in the Roadhouse Chronicles. Looking forward to the release of Grey Ronin next Monday!
[5/16/2016] – Sent the first edit pass of Araphel (Daughter of Mars 2) back to Curiosity Quills.
[5/14/2016] – Got the editor’s feedback on Araphel (Daughter of Mars 2) back from CQ.
[4/30/2016] – Signed a contract with Curiosity Quills to publish book 2 of the Tales of Widowswood series – Emma and the Silk Thieves!
[4/26/2016] – Took on an editing project for CQ. (This Above All)
[4/25/2016] – The Eldritch Heart is off to beta readers. Now the worst part of writing – waiting for the feedback to come in.
[4/22/2016] – Been busy awhile and neglecting updates… Currently working on The Eldritch Heart – a YA fantasy. Finished up the first draft of The Dysfunctional Conspiracy, which I’m co-authoring with Chris Veltmann, did some edits for CQ, and got into drafting. Lack of news here = throwing every darn minute at writing or writing-related things when I’m not at the day job. Anyway, back to it.
[4/7/2016] – Been working on a nonfiction project for CQ that I’m not sure how much I can discuss yet. Coming along nicely. About 172 pages in so far. Also, looking forward to hearing beta reader replies from Emma and the Silk Thieves.
[3/23/2016] – Signed a contract with Curiosity Quills to publish The Redeemed (Roadhouse Chronicles book 2)!
[3/22/2016] – Back to doing edits for CQ since drafting is finished.
[3/21/2016] – Emma and the silk thieves is done! 67k words. Off to some beta readers.
[3/17/2016] – Curiosity Quills has signed Division Zero: Guardian! (Book 4 of the series) /wootles. Also, added 7616 words to Emma and the Silk Thieves. (You may be thinking, hmm, that seems low – but I only took two days off work. For writing after the day job, that’s pretty close to my best record in a day.)
[3/16/2016] – Added 14304 words to Emma and the Silk Thieves. 7 of 30 chapters down.
[3/15/2016] – Started drafting on Emma and the Silk Thieves (Book 2 in the Tales of Widowswood series). Got off to a somewhat slow start as I had a beta read to finish for CQ first, added 7951 words today.
[3/12/2016] – Sent the post-proofread of Hand of Raziel back to CQ. It’s ready to go!
[3/11/2016] – The proofread back for Nine Candles of Deepest Black is ready for me to look at. It’s standing in line now…
[3/10/2016] – I’ve been tapped by CQ for an interesting-sounding project. Not sure what (if any details) I can mention now, so apologies for vague-blogging.
[3/9/2016] – Got the proofread of Hand of Raziel back. 🙂 Also finished outlining Emma 2, tentatively titled “Emma and the Silk Thieves.”
[3/8/2016] – In the early outlining stages for the next book in the “Emma” series, following the events of Emma & the Banderwigh.
[3/3/2016] – Did a proofread for CQ on Ann Noser’s upcoming sequel to How to Date Dead Guys. Also added a Roadhouse Chronicles page here for the series and added book 2 (The Redeemed) to Goodreads. (Be lovely to see people adding to their want-to-read pile – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29407776-the-redeemed)
[2/29/16] – Got One More Run back from CQ’s editor for pass two. Minimal changes, sent it back to go into proofreading. Also heard that Nine Candles is in proof.
[2/27/16] – In the midst of editing a steampunk anthology for Curiosity quills.
[2/24/16] – Nine Candles is on its way back to CQ for proofreading after edit round 2.
[2/15/16] – One More Run finished with edit round one. Back to CQ it goes!
